Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration

Overview

Our team has partnered since 2019 with the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration to perform energy, water, and overall facility improvements for the State of Colorado’s capitol building complex. In total, we worked on improvements across 18 buildings that comprise 1,811,866 square feet.

Solutions

The first phase included a retrofit of all the buildings’ lighting systems to energy efficient LEDs. A focus on lighting quality and historical appropriateness was but two elements that distinguished this lighting design and retrofit project from other more typical lighting retrofits. Phase 2 focused on mechanical, solar PV, and control systems. A variety of capital retrofits were analyzed and installed. The site’s existing geothermal system was retrofit for better performance. A solar PV system was installed on one of the facilities. All facilities underwent an extensive retrocommissioning (RCx) and ongoing monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) process. Phase 3 is currently underway and will add to the 20% utility savings delivered via Phase 1 and 2. Phase 3 includes additional solar PV, RCx, MBCx, and mechanical retrofits.

Results

Phase I resulted with a projected payback under ten (10) years, which included a one-time incentive of over $140,000. In total, Phase 2 saves $250,000+ per year, which was 11% of DPA’s utility expenditures. The combined savings of Phases 2 and 3 are projected to be $419,536, energy savings of 13,573,101 MMBtu, and water savings of 1,806 gallons each year.